Sebastian Conran
Industrial designer, engineer and furniture designer.
Design talent flows through Sebastian Conran's veins. He is the son of famed London furniture designer, interior decorator and restaurant owner Terence Conran. Fortunately for many, he has followed in his father's footsteps.
Born in 1956 in London, he had an early fascination with the process used to produce everyday objects. Not only was he interested in how something was manufactured, sold and used, but also how it was created and designed. So it is not a surprise that Sebastian Conran has designed everything, from an album cover for the Sex Pistols to luxury goods, kitchen appliances, furniture and other objects.
He was the Head of Design at his father's company, the Conran Design Group, until he decided to move beyond designing the interiors of shops and restaurants. In 1986, he founded his own design studio, which merged with the Conran Group to become Conran & Partners in 1999. He monitored the development processes as Director for Graphic and Product Design. His own label, Universal Expert, was launched in 2009 and enjoys international renown. Today, Conran also teaches furniture design at the Royal College of Art in London. Conran's team includes more than 100 employees responsible for product and graphic design, interior design and architecture.
The collections
Villeroy & Boch has been successfully working with the Conran & Partners design studio for more than a decade. During that time, Sebastian discovered that the egg, symbolizing birth and life, could be used as an element when designing bathroom furniture. This new shape concept became such a trailblazing innovation that many other designers attempted to copy this element in the period that followed.
Achieving the very highest quality is his first commandment. Stylistically speaking, Conran prefers to focus on the minimalist design of the nineteen twenties, but with a contemporary twist and a unique character. The Conran team likes to use traditional materials such as wood, porcelain, ceramics, glass and stainless steel. The colors of the designs are neutral, as Conran designs are intended to integrate harmoniously into their customers’ homes.
Aveo
In 2003, Conran & Partners developed a luxurious bathroom collection, the most obvious feature of which was that each of the bathroom elements incorporated the form of a soft oval. An egg serves as a symbol for the creation of life but also as a protective shell. The bathroom serves as a place of shelter, a place to feel well and unwind - the place where wellness begins. Thus, taking inspiration from the soft oval egg shape for the bathroom proved a genius fit.
Based on this idea, Sebastian Conran and his team then went on to design Aveo for Villeroy & Boch. The egg-shape and the clarity of form were retained for this new collection, creating a feeling of lightness, freshness and of natural shelter.
iF Product Design Award 2003
The British designer Sebastian Conran loves being involved in all aspects of design from A to Z, enabling his team to benefit from his vast experience. This approach has brought him considerable success: much of his work has won prizes for design and innovation, and he has also taken out numerous patents. Immediately following the launch of Aveo in 2003 for Villeroy & Boch, the bath won the iF Product Design Award. The award was introduced in 1954 and is viewed as the "Design Oscar". Each year, more than 2000 products from 37 countries take part in this competition. By selecting it as the winner, the jury of experts acknowledged that the structure of Conran's innovative bath as one of a kind.
